Winch construction



March 21, 1944.

| BERNER WQINCI-I CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 27, 1941 v 3 Sheets$heet l o Eerner ATTORN EY March 21,1944.

L. BERNER WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 27, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR Leo flex-n er ATTORNEY March 21,1944. L E QER 2,344,587

' WINCH CONSTRUCT'ION Filed Sept; 27, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Ber-her" A'II'TORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1944 WINCH CONSTRUCTION Leo Berner, San Jose, Calif., assignor to Wooldridge Manufacturing Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application September 27, 1941, Serial No. 412,673

Claims.

This invention relates generally to winch units of the type making use of a plurality of drums for winding up or playing out separate ropes or cables. More particularly, it relates to multiple drum winch units adapted for attachment to present day tractors for operation of various equipment such as road making machines, hoists, scrapers, earth movers, and the like.

In copending application, Serial No. 305,224, filed November 20, 1939, now Patent No. 2,270,507, dated January 20, 1942, there is disclosed a winch construction i which two drums are associated with a common drive shaft and are provided with releasable but normally engaged braking means. A single control lever is provided which is connected with the driving clutches, and with the braking means in such a manner that for operating this single lever either one of the two drums can be driven, or the braking means for each drum may be released to permit the associated drum to unwind its cable. In moving the control lever to release the braking means, it is necessary to move the lever in one direction, to release the braking means for one drum, and to force it in the opposite direction when the other drum is to be released.

Assuming that the end of the control lever grasped by the operator extends forwardly to a position near the operators seat, as is generally the case, the forward end of the lever must be lifted in a vertical direction to release one of the winch drums, and is forced downwardly to release the other drum. Such action is subject to certain objections, particularly i that raising the control lever is tiresome to the operator, and in that a relatively large clear area is required for movements of the control lever to all of its operating positions.

It is an object of the present invention to improve upon the winch unit disclosed in the above identified application. More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved winch unit of this character which will make it possible to release either one of the braking means for two drums by movement of the control lever in the same direction. As will be presently explained, this is accomplished by use of a selecting mechanism which is interposed between the control lever and the brake releasing means.

Additional objects of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational view showing a winch unit in accordance with the present invention, applied to a tractor;

Figure 2 is a side elevationalview in cross section, showing particularly the selecting finger and the parts for its operation from the handle of the control lever;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the winch unit; and

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The winch unit illustrated in the drawings makes use of three cable drums A, B and C, which are carried by the housing In. This housing is suitably mounted upon the tractor l I, and a driving connection is established to the motor of the tractor, as will be presently explained. The control lever I2 is in the form of a rod or pipe which is bent so that the forward end portion l2a, which is grasped by an operator, is in a convenient position near the operators seat. As will be presently made clear, lever portion lZa is swung to the left and to the right for the purpose of driving either one or the other of the two drums B or C, and it is forced downwardly a limited amount for the purpose of releasing either one of the two braking means for the drums. Drum A forms no part of the present invention, and can be omitted if desired.

Extending into the housing I0, there is a shaft l3 which is directly coupled to the regular power takeoff shaft of the tractor. A worm M on this shaft drives the two worm gears I5. One of these gears is for the purpose of driving drum A, and the other is for the purpose of driving drums B and C.

As illustrated, the two drums B and C are mounted for rotation upon a common axis, and this mounting is preferably independent of the driving means. Thus, the tubular extension H5 or quill is mounted upon the upper wall of housing [0, and drum B is journalled to this extension by the ball or roller bearing assemblies l1 and 18. The upper end of drum B likewise has a tubular extension or quill B9 to which the drum C is journalled by means of the ball or roller bearing assemblies 2| and 22. Extending through the tubular extensions Iii and it, there is a tubular drive shaft 23 and a stationary shaft 24. The lower end of tubular shaft 23 is splined to the worm gear I5. The lower end of shaft 24 is afiixed to the housing Iii as illustrated.

The upper end of drum C carries a cylindrical shell 26, which forms a brake drum, and which also houses parts of the clutching mechanism. The clutching mechanism includes the conical clutch elements 21 and 28, in conjunction with the intervening clutch element 29. Clutch element 2'! is mounted upon the upper end of the tubular extension l9, so that it rotates together with the lower drum B. Clutch element 218 is secured to the upper edge of the cylindrical shell 25, by screws 3!. Shims 32 are shown whereby clutch element 28 can be adjusted. Clutch element 29 is affixed to an inner sleeve 33, which in turn is fixed to the upper end of the drive shaft 23. Within the sleeve 33, there is a nut 34 which engages with the upper threaded portion 24a, of the shaft 24. Nut 34 carries sleeve 33 by means of the ball or roller bearing assemblies 38 and 31. Thus, the sleeve 33 together with clutch element 29 is moved in a vertical direction as the nut 34 is rotated. In this manner clutch element 29 is engaged with either one of clutch elements 21 or 28 in order to drive either the drum B or drum C.

Each of the drums is also provided with selfenergizing brake means, which are normally engaged but which can be released to permit unwinding rotation of a drum. Thus, the upper end of drum B is provided with an annular flange 4| forming, in effect, a brake drum, and this brake drum is embraced by the brake band 42. The lower part of the cylindrical shell 26 likewise forms a brake drum and is embraced by the brake band 43. Attachment is made to the ends of these brake bands, as shown in Figure 4. Thus in this instance one end of the band 43 is anchored to the tie bolt 44 which in turn is adjustably anchored to a part 45 of the stationary bracket 41, which has its lower end attached to the housing l0. A pair of levers 49 are attached to a tubular shaft 49 which in turn is journalled to bracket 41. Levers 48 are attached to the other end of the brake band 43 by the links The lower brake band 42 has its one end similarly attached to a tie bolt 44a correspOnding to bolt 44, and its other end is connected to levers 52 and links 53 corresponding to the parts 48 and 5|. Levers 52 are secured to the vertical shaft 54 which is journalled to bracket 41, and which extends upwardly and telescopically through the tubular shaft 49. Levers 5'6 and 51 are also secured to shafts 49 and 54, and are attached to tension springs 58. Thus, both shafts 49 and 54 are urged in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3, to normally tighten the brake bands upon their associated brake drums. With this arrangement, the brake drums as viewed in Figure 3 are normally locked against rotation in a counterclockwise direction, but when driven may rotate in a clockwise direction. By rocking the shafts 49 and 54 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3, the brake bands may be released to permit unwinding rotation of the drums in a counterclockwise direction.

Mechanism is connected to the upper ends of shafts 49 and 54 whereby these shafts can be selectively rocked for the release of the brake bands. Thus, levers BI and 52 are attached to the upper ends of these shafts, and the free ends of these levers are in turn connected by links 63 and 64 to the swinging bars 86 and 61, respeotively. Pivot pin 68 serves to connect the corresponding ends of these bars to a stationary bracket 69, while the other ends of these bars extend through spacer bars H, carried by the stationary bracket 12 and angle bracket 13. The bars 66 and 81 are normally parallel and extend one below the other, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. When forced to the left as viewed in Figure 3, links 63 and 64 are pulled to move the levers 5i and 62, and to thus rock the shafts 49 and 54 which release the brakes.

With respect to the mounting of the control lever [2, its lower end is pivotally connected by pin 14 to the upper end of the nut 34. The axis of this pivotal connection is at right angles to the axis of the nut. Therefore, this connection makes it possible to rotate the nut by swinging the end of lever 52 either to the right or to the left, or the forward end of the lever may be swung in a general vertical direction about the axis of pivot 14. Selective means is provided whereby swinging movements of the lever 12in one direction about the axis of pin 14 can transmit motion to either bar 85 or 57, thus effecting selective operation of the brake releasing means. This selecting means makes use of a movable finger, which is selectively positioned by the operator. Thus, journalled upon the lower end of the control lever 12, a short distance above the pivot pin 14, there is a collar Hi-which carries a movable selecting finger ll. This finger is forked to embrace the collar 15 as shown in Figure 3, and has a pivotal connection 18 to collar 16 on an axis at right angles to the adjacent portion of the control lever l2. The finger is provided with an extension arm 19 extending beyond the pivotal connection 18, and this arm carries a counter weight 8l.

The free end of finger H is normally within either one of two thrust sockets 82 or 83, which in turn are mounted upon the bars 66 and 81. By reference to Figure 2, it will be noted that finger TI is free to move from one socket to the other, and that these sockets are located generally above and below the axis of the pivotal connection 18. Assuming that the finger is within the socket 83, as shown in Figure 2, swinging of the control lever I2 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot pin 14, causes finger 1] to apply thrust through socket 83 to move the bar 61, and as previously pointed out movement of this bar releases the lower brake band 42. Likewise, if the finger TI is positioned so that its free end is within the socket 82, then the similar. movement of the control lever I2 transmits movement to bar 65 to release the upper brake band 43.

In order to selectively position the finger 11 in either of the two positions described above, I provide suitable means which can be conveniently operated by the operator of the tractor.

5 The means in this instance consists of a. simple finger operated lever 85 mounted uponjthe control rod near the portion l2a.- This lever is shown connected to finger 11, through link 85, bell crank 81, and link 88, which is attached to the extension arm 19. Normally it is desirable to have the counter weight 8| retain the finger ,11 in the thrust socket 83, so that when the portion l2a of the control lever is grasped by an operator and is forced downwardly, without operating the lever 85, the bar 61 will be moved to rock the shaft 54, and thus release the lower brake band 42. If it is desired to release the other brake, then the operator first operates the lever 85, to position finger l! within the thrust socket Thereafter, when the operator presses down upon the lever portion [2a, movement is transmitted to the bar 66 to release the upper brake band 43.

In connection with rotation of the nut 34, it is desirable to provide; detent means for normally retaining the nut in a neutral position. Thus, as shown in Figure 3, the upper end of the nut carries an arm 9| provided with roller 92. This roller engages arm 93, which is pivotally mounted upon an ear 94 of bracket 13, and which is urged against the roller 92 by spring 96. One edge of the arm 93 is provided with an arcuate notch 91 which accommodates roller 92 for a neutral position of the nut 34.

Particularly in Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings, a dotted line construction 98 is shown which forms no part of the present invention. This construction may be employed for the mounting of fair lead sheaves substantially as disclosed and described in my copending application Serial No. 352,233, filed August 12, 1940, now Patent No. 2,303,020, dated November 24, 1942, and entitled Fair lead construction.

Operation of the winch unit described above can be briefly outlined as follows: Assuming that the unit is being used in conjunction with an earth mover or scraper of the type employing a main bowl, an expeller for the main bowl, and a front apron which can be raised and lowered in conjunction with the cutting edge for the main bowl, the drums B and C can be connected to operate cables for the earth mover, with the cables reeved substantially in the manner disclosed in Wooldridge application Serial No. 210,671, filed May 28, 1938, now Patent No. 2,262,310, dated November 11, 1941. In this instance, one cable would control raising and lowering of the cutting edge, and a second cable control both movement of the expeller for the main bowl, and the raising and lowering of the front apron. If the Winch unit is used in the manner described in Clark application Serial No. 300,729, filed October 23, 1939, now Patent No. 2,271,791, dated February 3, 1942, then three operating cables are employed for operation of the earth mover, one cable being applied to drum A and serving to operate the expeller for the main bowl, while separate cables are applied to drums B and C, for the raising and lowering of the cutting blade, and for the raising and lowering of the front apron, under the coordinated control of the single lever l2. In any event, normally the control lever I2 is in a neutral position, in which the nut 34 is positioned so that clutch element 29 is disengaged with respect to both clutch elements 21 and 28. Also, the end portion l2a of the lever is in a raised position with the selecting finger 11 positioned within the thrust socket 83.

Assuming now that shaft I3 is being rotated from the engine of the tractor, the operator may drive either one of the two drums B or C simply by movement of the lever portion I20. either to the left or right from the neutral position. When it is desired topermit unwinding rotation of one of the drums to play out a cable, then the end portion l2a of the control lever is forced downwardly by the operator. Downward movement without actuating the trip lever 85 causes-motion to be transmitted through selecting finger H to the bar 61, to rock shaft 54 and thus release the brake band 42. However,

should the operator wish to release the brake band 43 for drum 0, thus permitting unwinding rotation of this drum, trip lever 85 is operated to initially position finger 'l'l within the thrust socket 82. Thereafter when the lever portion 12w is forced downwardly, finger .11

moves the bar 66, and this movement in turn causes rocking of shaft 49 to release the brake band 43.

It is apparent from the above that with the present invention simple movement of the control lever in one direction can be used for both brake releasing operations, thus making it unnecessary to apply any substantial upward forces to the control lever, and also greatly reducing the amplitude of movement of the control lever for both brake releasing operations.

I claim:

1. In a winch unit, a pair of winch drums, normally engaged braking means for each drum, each braking means being self releasing to permit driving of the drum in one direction, mechanisms for releasing each of said braking means to permit unwinding rotation of the associated drum, each of said; mechanisms including a member adapted to be moved to release the corresponding braking means, a movable control lever, and a selective means for transmitting motion from the control lever to either one of the two members, said selecting means including a selecting finger pivotally secured to the control lever and movable to either one of two selected positions.

2. In a winch unit, a pair of winch drums, driving means for both drums, means associated with each drum for releasably clutching the same to the driving means, normally engaged braking means for each drum, each braking means being self releasing to permit driving of the drum in one direction, mechanisms for releasing each of said braking means to permit unwinding rotation of the associated drum, a single control lever having a plurality of operating positions, a means for selectively connecting said lever to either one of the two brake releasing mechanisms whereby for movement of the control lever in one direction either one of said braking means can be released, and mechanism connecting the lever to said clutching means for selectively clutching each drum with the driving means by movement of the lever to either one of two additional operating positions.

3. In a winch unit, a pair of rotatable winch drums disposed end to end and in alignment, a rotatable drive member, clutching means for engaging each drum with said drive member and including a plurality of clutch elements, a nut disposed near one end of one of the drums and rotatable to move the same in opposite directions, a connection between the nut and an element of the clutching means for causing the clutching means to engage either drum with the driving member by rotation of the nut in either direction, a control lever, means serving to pivotally connect one end of the control lever to the nut for pivotal movement about an axis at right angles to the axis of the nut and independent of rotation of the nut, braking means for the drums, motion transmitting mechanisms connected to said braking means for effecting release of the same, each of said mechanisms including a member movable to release said braking means, a selecting finger pivotally mounted upon the control lever, and means for positioning said selecting finger in either one of two positions, in one of which movement of said lever in one direction actuates one of said members, and in the other position said finger actuates the other one ofsaid members by movement of the control lever in the same direction.

4. In a winch unit, a pair of rotatable winch drums disposed end to end and in alignment, a

direction, a control lever having one end of the 10 same pivotally connected to the nut on an axis at right angles to the axis of the nut, the lever having a handle portion extending laterally of the axis of the nut and a portion near the nut extending in the same general direction as the 15 axis of the nut, a collar journalled upon the last named portion of the lever, 21 selecting finger pivoted upon the collar to swing in a plane generally coincident with the axis of the nut, means carried by the lever to shift the finger into either oneoftwo operating positions about said last named pivotal connection, braking means for the drums, and motion transmitting mechanisms connected to said braking means for effecting release of the same, each of said mechanisms including a member engaged by said finger in one of the operating positions of the same to release said braking means when the lever is swung in one direction about its pivotal connection with the nut.

5. In a winch unit as claimed in claim 4 in which means is provided to prevent rotation of the finger whereby the lever can be rotated to rotate the nut about its axis without causing corresponding rotation of the finger.

LEO BERNER. 

